Producer
BTR New Material Group
BTR New Material Group Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen; SZSE: 835185; ~¥13B revenue 2023) is the world's largest producer of lithium-ion battery anode materials by volume, overtaking Shanshan Corporation around 2020-2021. BTR produces both synthetic graphite anode material (dominant product, ~70% of its anode volume) and natural graphite anode material (~30%). Its synthetic graphite anode is made by graphitizing petroleum coke or coal tar pitch precursors at ~3000°C in Acheson electric resistance furnaces, producing high-purity (99.9%+) spheroidized graphite with superior electrochemical performance versus natural graphite. BTR's customers include CATL, BYD, LG Energy Solution, Panasonic, Samsung SDI, and SK On. BTR operates multiple production bases across China (Shenzhen Bao'an, Guizhou, Shandong, Ningde) and is expanding into localized overseas production (BTR Korea JV, BTR Germany study). Estimated ~25% global synthetic graphite anode market share in 2023.
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3 facilities
BTR New Material — Guizhou Anode Production Base →
CNGuizhou · manufacturing
BTR's Guizhou anode production base, one of its major inland graphitization sites. Located in Guizhou Province for access to relatively cheaper electricity (hydropower) compared to coastal China — energy cost is critical given ~15 MWh/tonne energy intensity of Acheson furnace graphitization. Source: https://www.btrchina.com/about
BTR New Material — Shenzhen Bao'an Anode Plant →
CNGuangdong · manufacturing
BTR's original and largest anode production base in Bao'an District, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Produces synthetic and natural graphite anode material; houses R&D headquarters. Acheson furnace graphitization at ~3000°C. Capacity estimated at 50,000+ tonnes/year equivalent across Shenzhen operations. Source: https://www.btrchina.com/about
Seadrift Coke LP — Port Lavaca, Texas (Needle Coke) →
USTexas · manufacturing
IMPORTANT: Seadrift Coke LP (Port Lavaca, Calhoun County, Texas) is owned by GrafTech International (not BTR) — listed here as an upstream chokepoint for needle coke feedstock context. Seadrift is the ONLY petroleum needle coke production facility in the United States. Needle coke is the critical precursor for synthetic graphite (both battery anode and graphite electrodes for steelmaking). GrafTech acquired Seadrift in 2010. Other needle coke producers are in UK (C-Chem/Petrochem), Japan (Nippon Steel Chemical, Mizushima), and China (Fangda Carbon, Sinosteel). The US has a single needle coke plant for all domestic synthetic graphite needs. Source: https://www.graftech.com/products/needle-coke/
What else they do
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The company's full revenue map, where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Synthetic Graphite Anode
58%Natural Graphite Anode
28%Silicon-Carbon & Next-Gen Anodes
8%Other New Materials
6%
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Did you know2022
BTR's synthetic graphite anode production requires needle coke — a premium petroleum derivative used both for EV battery anode materials (BTR's core business) and for graphite electrodes in electric arc furnaces (the furnaces that produce "green steel" in EV-era mini-mills). BTR's anode scale-up and the EAF steelmaking industry's growth are competing for the same needle coke supply, creating a structural tension where the EV battery supply chain and the decarbonized steel supply chain are pricing against each other for a shared critical raw material. The industry that makes batteries for EVs and the industry that makes the steel for EVs are both bidding up the same graphite precursor.
Reuters ↗Origin2023
BTR New Material Group was founded in 1996 in Shenzhen by Ge Zhiyong, initially processing natural graphite for industrial applications. As Sony commercialized the first lithium-ion batteries in the early 1990s and Chinese battery makers began scaling in the 2000s, BTR pivoted to battery-grade anode material processing. BTR overtook Shanshan Corporation around 2020-2021 to become the world's #1 anode material producer, riding CATL's explosive growth as BTR's dominant EV battery customer. BTR is now also investing in silicon-carbon next-generation anodes that could increase battery energy density 20-40% over current graphite anodes.
BTR New Material Group ↗